NEW DELHI :20,2020: The Supreme Court on Monday declined a stay on the electoral bonds scheme of 2018. An apex court bench comprising Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant gave the Centre and the Election Commission two weeks’ time to file a reply.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) had filed a plea in the apex court seeking a stay on the electoral bonds scheme of 2018. The Finance Act of 2017 had introduced the use of electoral bonds which is exempt from disclosure under the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951.
The ADR, an NGO, had said in its plea that certain amendments made in the Finance Act, 2017, and the earlier Finance Act, 2016, both passed as money bills, had opened doors to unlimited political donations even from foreign companies.
The use of electoral bonds for political donations was a cause for concern because these bonds were in the nature of bearer bonds and the identity of the donor was kept anonymous, it added.
Senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the ADR, in December had told the SC that around ₹6,000 crore had been collected under the scheme, which have been red-flagged by institutions like the Reserve Bank of India and the Election Commission, PTI had reported.
According to the scheme, electoral bonds may be purchased by a person, who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India. The government had notified the Electoral Bond Scheme on 2 January, 2018.
Electoral bonds are interest-free banking instruments, which can be bought from specified branches of State Bank of India in multiples of ₹1,000, ₹1 lakh, ₹10 lakh or ₹1 crore.
